At this time, about 70% of people who answered the poll on that page said they're lonely. Of course there is an obvious selection bias, but even so I find that number troubling. Loneliness is different from being alone, or single, or being a loner - it's a painful feeling of social isolation.

I wonder if those articles encouraging people to "just get over themselves" and be social are conveying the wrong message entirely. For some people that advice might be outright harmful. The more you're being told your salvation is other people, the more your pain and isolation grow. The media introduces yet another yardstick for you to fall short of.

At the extreme ends of the spectrum there are socialite extroverts, and eremites with no social desires, respectively. But most people fall in between. Being in a group (or a relationship for that matter) is not the universal cure for Weltschmerz. For most people, there is a balance between being social and being a lone individual, meaning you need both in a ratio that is appropriate to you.